During the chaotic Northern and Southern Dynasties, the northern frontier of the Liang Dynasty is protected by the powerful Changlin Army led by Xiao Tingsheng (Sun Chun) and Xiao Pingzhang (Huang Xiaoming). During an expedition, Senior Grand Secretary Xun Baishui (Bi Yanjun) cuts off supplies to the front line, and Xiao Pingzhang is severely wounded. His younger brother Xiao Pingjing (Liu Haoran) leaves Langya Hall in order to get to the bottom of the conspiracy.

It turns out that 30 years ago, neighbouring kingdom Yeqin was suffering from the plague, yet Liang kept its borders shut for self-protection. In order to take revenge for his fallen kingdom, Pu Yangying (Guo Jingfei) travels to Liang under a hidden identity, and colludes with top martial artist Marquis Mozi (Cheng Taishen) and Xun Baishui to weaken the Xiao Family’s power and poison the people of Liang.

Xiao Pingzhang dies from poison during the war, and a year later the Liang Emperor (Liu Jun) passes away from sickness. The Yu Dynasty takes the chance to invade, and Xun Baishui and Xiao Yuanqi, the Prince of Laiyang (Wu Haochen) coaxes the new Emperor (Hu Xianxu) into releasing an edict banning the Changlin Army from going into battle.[4]

In early 2016, producer Hou Hongliang had confirmed though interviews that a sequel to Nirvana in Fire would probably include a new cast of characters and story, while retaining the backdrop of Langya Hall.[5] Wei Wei, the Nirvana in Fire casting director, confirmed on Sina Weibo in July 2016 that a sequel to the acclaimed drama had entered pre-production and would began filming in November.[6] The series is set to air exclusively via streaming website iQiyi.[7] The main cast was unveiled in October 2016,[8] with the rest of the supporting cast announced later in December.[9]

On December 15, the cast and production crew officially began filming at Hengdian Studios.[10] Filming lasted for 5 months and ended in May 2017 at Mongol before finally entering post-production.[11]

In March 2017, Daylight Entertainment announced that the series would be showcased at the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong.[12] The first teaser video was unveiled in June 2017 via iQiyi's conference, with an estimated premiere date at the end of 2017.[13]

Huang Xiaoming (黄晓明) may be headlining Nirvana in Fire II <琅琊榜之风起长林>, but the true star of the show is 20-year-old Liu Haoran (刘昊然), who plays the story’s central character.

Nirvana in Fire II takes place a generation after the original 2015 hit series, in the era where Prince Jing’s son is the Emperor of Liang and the kingdom is guarded by the Changlin Army. The Xiao House, guardians of the Changlin Army, are betrayed, and the successor Xiao Pingzhang (Huang Xiaoming) is injured. While investigating the case, Pingzhang and his younger brother Pingjing (Liu Haoran) are poisoned, but Pingzhang forgoes his opportunity of retrieving an antidote for his kingdom. The weight is now on Pingjing’s shoulders to protect his kingdom and bring honor back to his family.

Huang Xiaoming’s early death in the series is surprising to many, as the actor has been headlining the sequel since it was first announced. Although the backstory of Nirvana in Fire II seems to be like a reboot of the original, Nirvana in Fire II places more emphasis on solving mysteries rather than political battles. It’s a different take on the Nirvana in Fire world, but whether or not it would carry as much influence as its predecessor remains another mystery to be solved.